Another kind of not-much day. On the plus side, I paid most of the early to midmonth bills, and that always makes me happy. I got to take apart more of that odd green and glitter dot dress/costume I bought a few weeks ago at Community Thrift, and I did some doll laundry. Once everything was dry, I gathered all of it from the last several washings in one place and did some maintenance - clipped loose threads, de-linted Velcro closure strips, put the ‘Donations' dresses aside, stuff like that. The "Twirling Ballerina Barbie" tutu still has some glue residue from the iridescent diamond decorations that were on it, so I'll toss it in with the next load of whites. That way, I can turn it up to ‘ultra hot' water, and see if that takes the last of that gunk off. I'm kinda surprised I'm going to all this effort for anything that electrifying a shade of hot pink, but what can I say, I'm a sucker for a tutu. I still remember the one I never got...
Anyway. While I was in that sort of mood, I got tired of moving that Olsen Twin doll around. I'm not gonna keep her, and the only reason she's not in a donations bag already is because I needed to sew her ‘new' outfit. Her small body just doesn't fit most Barbie clothes... well, it doesn't fit the ones I'm donating along with the dolls ! I just can't donate a nude doll, for some reason. Community Thrift has no problem packing them in those cursed baggies nude, though...
She was part of that bagload I bought last Friday at the yard sale. I found an only slightly mangled bikini top that fit her in there, but nothing else. One strap was torn, so I simply cut it off. It's still supported by the other strap, and it looks kinda cool that way. Further digging in the bag found a blanket or something with two pockets of the same print as the bikini top, at the bottom. I have no idea what this blue strip of fabric is supposed to be. It's nylon, so it wouldn't be a good towel, it's awfully small for a blanket, and what in the world was with those two pockets ? I didn't care enough to do the research. Heck, I still don't know which twin this doll is supposed to be. Just don't care.
Well, I figured I could at least make the odd rectangle into a skirt, that way she'd have an outfit when she left. And you know me, I've put it off and put it off. Well, today I got tired of shuffling her around, so I grabbed some elastic, a snap closure, and went to it.
Elastic didn't work. If it was tight enough to go around her waist, it was too small to stretch from one end of the blue rectangle to the other. Instead, I ran a gathering stitch just down from the serged edge, snugged it to fit, tied off the ends, and sewed a snap on the insides. My snap fasteners are looking better ! Even I can barely see where the thread for it is. Took about 15 minutes, tops.
Her hair is still a mess. It was ponytailed straight from the top of her head like a blonde geyser. I'm trying to rubber-band it down, but I may have to do a boil perm. For now, she's good to donate, and I'm happy. I now know I can make a doll skirt from almost any fabric long enough to circle her hips with a bit to spare.
Chez Insanity - where dolls I don't even like still leave with a nice outfit !
